In all our sanctuaries we sit at risk

Category: Truth Telling

  • The Parrot Still in London

    Posted:

    This is one of a rapid succession of these rhyming commentaries, written during a sequence of events even more furious, momentous and disturbing than usual. I composed it quite early on Thursday 26th September. The previous night., in the House of Commons, only just back from America, following the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling, Mr Toad…

  • Mr Toad Falls Foul of the Law (Again)

    Posted:

    On September 24th, the UK Supreme Court ruled against our Prime Minister’s prorogation of Parliament, finding unanimously that the prorogation was unlawful and that Johnson had misled the Queens on his reasons for implementing it. Effectively, Johnson was being named a plain liar by the highest court in the country and Parliament’s position in the…

  • The Parrot and the Clowns

    Posted:

    The Parrot has joined the circus, remember. He’s still there and in the stanza above, he’s reporting back from a conference of clowns he heard today. All familiar shapes are now in question. In the UK, Brexit alone has been causing a great number of them to buckle. Democracy is one. What is democracy, after…

  • The Ravening Mr Toad

    Posted:

    This stanza was written on the morning of the day in September 2019 on which the UK parliament was shut down for several crucial weeks, at the behest of Mr Johnson and his streamlined cohorts. Johnson’s excuse for abusing the constitution in this fashion was yet another of his lazily blatant lies, into which –…

  • The Parrot Watches Another Circus Act

    Posted:

    Events are taking place at a speed even more bewildering than “usual.” The references in this latest stanza, uploaded Sunday 8th September, already feel bit old as I write this, even though the events they refer to took place only days ago. Johnson began this last week as if starting a general election campaign. Then,…

  • The Parrot Joins the Circus

    Posted:

    Prime Minister Johnson and his gang had lost a succession of important votes the day before this stanza was written. Several prominent and moderate  Tories who had voted against the government and against the possibility of a “No Deal” Brexit, had simply been sacked. Ken Clarke was one of those and had much to say…

  • The Parrot Studies Mr Toad

    Posted:

    Last night, the UK’s new “Prime Minister” lost both his (tiny) majority and a significant vote in the House of Commons, in which a number of Tories rebelled against the hoodlum hit squad presently masquerading as the nation’s Tory government. The rebels should be honoured for that. But Mr Toad is gaming for power, with…

  • The Parrot Has Another Say

    Posted:

    This stanza was written during the week-end preceding what seemed to be Parliament’s last and only chance to block Mr Johnson’s stated option of a “No Deal” Brexit. The Executive vs the Legislature. Mr Johnson and “The People” (or enough of them, he hoped) vs parliamentary scrutiny, or – as he might put it –…